Episode 02: Measuring ROI of Higher Ed: Points to Ponder
The debate over the cost of higher education in the US today rages on. These conversations were already rampant in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis situation which only exacerbated the existing challenges students and parents face in trying to plan for the future.
When it comes to making a significant purchase, whether it’s a car, cell phone, or a five-star meal, most of us try to balance affordability with the features and benefits we want most. Investments are a little different--we seek flexibility as well as affordability and, perhaps most significantly, we expect some kind of future return that will have made it all worthwhile.
College is an investment, or so the saying goes. It’s money we spend today so that we can make more money later. But there’s a sneaky part about investing that we often forget--just as you risk a positive return, you risk simply breaking even or realizing a loss. When it comes to obtaining a higher education that will move a career trajectory forward, students today can’t afford a negative return on their investment, nor can their parents, and nor can the economy at large.
In the past, we’ve been able to evaluate the ROI of a college education on both individual and societal levels. Individual evaluation might look more like anecdotal evidence--everyone knows someone who went to a certain university and is now a billionaire. On a grander scale, we’ve seen decades worth of data showing that college graduates make more money over their lifetimes.
The ROI seems self-evident. Obtain a college degree, increase your earning power for the rest of your life, and boost your chances of becoming a billionaire. What’s wrong with that picture?
What once was a tried and true path to financial security and career success exists for fewer and fewer individuals today. College is less and less affordable, and as more graduates flood the job market, salaries stagnate. Students and parents are faced with tough choices as they evaluate next steps. An investment in college isn’t just financial, either--it’s a major life decision and evaluating the risks can add a whole extra layer of stress and guilt to the process.
As colleges and universities adjusted to the pandemic, suddenly most of the aspects of the on-campus college experience disappeared. Online learning and online work became the default, changing the entire conversation around the value of an online degree. With self-guided and on-demand learning suddenly in the driver’s seat, we’re faced with a chicken-and-egg scenario. When it comes to the value of a college education, how important is the source of the knowledge (e.g., an elite university or a community college) versus what a student does with that knowledge?
In the latest episode of my new podcast Illuminate Higher Education, I explore the new education landscape. What role do MOOCs and other on-demand learning opportunities play? Will the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic usher in a new era of affordability and accessibility in higher ed?
Listen to Episode 002 of Illuminate Higher Education below or on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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This episode is brought to you by N2N’s Illuminate App, the iPaaS for Higher Education.
About N2N Services
Founded in 2010, N2N is committed to serving educational institutions and helping them figure out how to serve their students, faculty, and staff using the most innovative technologies and solutions available in the marketplace. Over the last decade, N2N has served over 300 academic institutions and enabled their student success journeys.
N2N Services Inc. is a leader in enterprise application integration and strategic advisory services for higher education, At N2N, we are committed to providing the highest quality solutions and collaboratively building student-centric solutions.
Learn more at https://illuminateapp.com/web/higher-education/.
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